Sudanese rebels yesterday said they were happy with a draft agreement which mediators hope will pave the way to a final peace deal in the country's 20-year-old war. The Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) and the Khartoum government are holding talks in the Kenyan town of Nakuru, the final stage in interminable year-long negotiations. Last July the two sides signed a protocol on two main issues — religion and the right for southerners to hold a referendum on independence — but they have since struggled to agree on issues like sharing power and wealth, and how to structure the army.
| And both sides have been violating the agreement they made whenever they thought they'd seen an opening... |
Mediators have presented the parties with a draft document that tackles the main outstanding problems, and said they had asked both the southern rebels and the northern government to comment on it by this morning. An SPLA source in Nakuru said the rebels were happy with the draft, whi-ch mediators hope will be the basis of a final comprehensive peace deal they aim to prepare by mid-August. "For us, we see it as a way forward," the SPLA source said. "We are very happy with the draft, not that we agree with all the issues but it is a basis." The source accused the government of delaying negotiations, saying Khartoum was not willing to make compromises. The government said it could not give its views on the draft until it had presented them to mediators. |